By Pattrick Smellie May 14 (BusinessDesk) - Fewer students than expected have taken up the government's offer of free fees for tertiary education, allowing nearly $200 million over four years to be redirected into a revamp of vocational skills training, Finance Minister Grant...

By Rebecca Howard May 14 (BusinessDesk) - Total guest nights spent in hotels, motels, backpackers, and holiday parks fell 4 percent in March from a year earlier largely due to the timing of Easter.  “Guest nights fell across the country in March this year compared with last...

By Gavin Evans May 14 (BusinessDesk) - Provisional migration data suggests the country gained a net 4,500 permanent and long-term residents in March, down from a revised 8,565 in February but up from 3,396 in March last year. That takes the provisional net gain for the 12 m...

By Pattrick Smellie May 13 (BusinessDesk) - Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones mixed defiance with apology for his handling of the Provincial Growth Fund during a briefing intended to demystify the process by which funds from the $3 billion fund are managed....

By Rebecca Howard May 10 (BusinessDesk) - Spending on credit and debit cards increased in April as people took advantage of the extended holiday period to travel and eat out more.  Seasonally-adjusted card spending increased 0.6 percent in April after a 0.2 percent dip in M...

By Pattrick Smellie May 9 (BusinessDesk) - The government will invest $27 million to establish a new energy centre in Taranaki as a gesture towards assisting the region's transition from a multi-billion dollar oil and gas industry to a low-carbon economy. Prime Minister Jac...

By Rebecca Howard May 8 (BusinessDesk) - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut rates by 25 basis points to a record low 1.5 percent and economists expect it to cut again.  Changes to the central bank’s forecasts in the latest monetary policy statement now show a chance for an...

By Rebecca Howard May 8 (BusinessDesk) - The Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent and signaled more cuts to come. The New Zealand dollar fell.  "The Monetary Policy Committee decided a lower OCR is necessary to support the outlook for em...

By Rebecca Howard May 7 (BusinessDesk) - Business managers and finance professionals lifted their short-term inflation expectations in the latest Reserve Bank survey but held their longer-dated view steady.  Respondents to the central bank's quarterly survey predict consume...

By Rebecca Howard May 6 (BusinessDesk) - Treasury says partial indicators suggest New Zealand's economic growth has been throttled back and may be lower than it forecast in the December half-year update. Among other things, the government's principal financial advisor point...

By Rebecca Howard May 6 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand commodity prices lifted in April and were significantly higher in March than previously reported, ANZ Bank’s monthly commodity price index shows. The ANZ world commodity price index lifted 2.5 percent in April, following...

By Jenny Ruth May 6 (BusinessDesk) - Corporate America is adding weight to the Federal Reserve's upbeat view of the US economy with about three-quarters of the S&P 500 Index companies that have reported so far beating earnings forecasts. With only about 50 companies still t...

By Rebecca Howard May 2 (BusinessDesk) - Red meat cooperative Alliance Group said meat prices are strong as the African swine fever outbreak decimates Chinese pork production. Chief executive David Surveyor says meat prices are "generally quite solid at the moment" due to t...

By Rebecca Howard May 1 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand’s unemployment rate nudged lower and annual wage inflation ticked slightly higher. But given the underlying softness, the data is unlikely to sway the central bank from either cutting rates next week or at least setting the...